Life Is Not A Shower.

Take-Home Message: Stop waiting for the things you want out of life to happen and just go get them. 

Were you ever asked what you wanted to be when you grew up? I was all the time. My answer has changed a lot over the years, but now I think it’s mostly an absurd question. These days, I believe I don’t have to wait to begin working toward that vision. I believe I can do it today.

It takes more than believing, though. It takes hard work. It takes long hours of focus on small goals. It takes a relentless pursuit of a vision. It takes grit. These are truths I’ve been learning from others who have committed to their dreams.

For some reason, though, I grew up very commitment-averse. The fear of failure used to be extremely pervasive in my life. It used to scare me just being around people who didn’t worry about orthodoxy, people who pushed all their chips onto the table for their goals. There was too much risk associated with chasing wild hares. It was best to play it safe, or so I thought.

I went to public school K-12. I spent 4 years in college. I looked for a job. I enrolled in graduate school. It was like following the instructions on the back of a shampoo bottle. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. There’s more to life than adding conditioner afterward, in my opinion. I didn’t want safe, I wanted fulfilling. So, I made a change. I decided to break the mold.

I realized that I wanted to be more than employed when I grew up. I wanted to be happy. I wanted to find fulfillment in the work that I did. I wanted to be challenged every. single. day. I wanted variety in my schedule. I wanted to work in natural light rather than in a cubicle under fluorescents from 9-5. I didn’t want to go into a massive amount of debt while trying to figure out what the hell I’m supposed to do with my life only to opt out to the first job that paid a “living wage.”

I didn’t want to survive, I wanted to thrive. I wanted to create value every day, in every circle, in every sphere, in every conversation. I wanted to be a living beacon of the phrase my dad told me when I was a child, “Son, every person you meet should be better for knowing you.”  I didn’t think I could do that unless I was truly happy with the story I was spinning with my life.

I wanted to be wealthy in spirit, and allow the joy I found in my labor to overflow into all of the other areas of my life. I wanted to create things that I saw as beautiful through my labor. I couldn’t do that by marching according to the status quo.

And then I found out something: other people had the same vision for their lives. Other people saw that something was missing, too. Other people, too, had an inherent desire to change the game. But more than that, I met other people who possessed a willingness to commit to their vision for their life and to go out and make it happen.

That’s where Praxis came into the story for me.

I heard about a program that allowed me to pick the skills I wanted to cultivate; a program that paired me with a small business or start-up company in the industry I sought; a program that treated me like a customer and wanted me to soak up every ounce of value for which I was paying…

It sounds almost utopian, right? Wrong. It’s real. It’s part of the educational revolution taking place right now. And today, I’m fortunate enough to begin this year-long professional development experience.

For the next year, I’ll be setting goals monthly and working toward them. I’ll be discussing the things I’m learning and how I’m working toward those goals one-on-one with my coach on a weekly basis. I’ll be working first-hand with a firm that is going to make me prove my worth every day, and I’ll be getting paid to do it. I’ll be rapidly learning about new industries, new concepts, and ideas that are new to me.

So, as I begin this experience, I invite you to join me in discussion about the things I’m learning. I’ll be cataloging much of the growth taking place right here, on my website, or as I’ll frequently refer to it, my living portfolio.

Some of it might intrigue you. Some of it might bore you. Some of these ideas might inspire you. Some of my opinions might upset you. Whatever the case, I will be recording it here, with one ultimate goal in mind: to grow personally. This is me declaring that I’m no longer afraid to fail; that I’ve committed to chasing my dreams no matter the cost.

If you don’t like what I say, let me know in the comments section. If you want to join me in conversation, please do. If you want to throw stones at my ideas or condemn my understanding of a concept, consider this an open invitation.

I chose to do this program because I realized I had a lot of areas in my life personally and professionally that I wanted to improve. Tomorrow, I want to know something I don’t know today. Next week, I want to understand something I don’t understand this week. Next month, I want to read faster than I read this month. Next year, I want to be a better communicator, writer, photographer, marketer, businessman, entrepreneur, thinker, philosopher, leader, friend, son, sibling, and man than I am this year.

Make me work for it. Challenge me with your questions and comments. Critique me. Tell me when I’m wrong. I value your feedback. I look forward to showing you what I learn along the way.

Cheers,
—
–M.E.